'It's fantastic news' - UK’s first road safety commissioner praises reduced road deaths in the West Midlands
The UK’s first road safety commissioner has welcomed a reduction in the number of deaths and serious injuries on West Midlands roads.
Mat MacDonald said there is ‘no reason’ why the region couldn’t have zero instances of people’s lives being ruined in the wake of encouraging figures showing a drop.
On Tuesday (July 22), West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster told members of the accountability and governance board that real progress has been made in improving road safety in the last year.
According to statistics, between January and July in 2025, there were 471 people killed or seriously injured – an 18 per cent drop from the same period in 2024 when there were 575.
In 2024, a road safety emergency was declared following a string of incidents which resulted in the deaths or serious injuries of people in Birmingham.
A Regional Road Safety Action Plan 2024-2030 was devised by the commissioner, West Midlands Police, Birmingham City Council and the region’s Mayor Richard Parker setting out actions that would be taken.
The objective is to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads by 50 per cent by 2030 and ‘Vision Zero’ by 2040.
Mr Parker also appointed Mr MacDonald as the first UK Road Safety Commissioner tasked with drawing up an action plan to tackle the issue.
Mr MacDonald said: “The drop in deaths and serious injuries on our roads is fantastic news. We will continue to observe the data over the coming years in the hope that this is the beginning of a long overdue trend in these grim statistics.
“Each and every one of these numbers is a real life which has been forever ruined or brutally cut short, and we must do better as a region.
“The graft of partners across the board to achieve these results has been exceptional, but we know from over 1,200 places across the world that it is possible to create roads where no-one is killed or seriously injured in a collision.
“There is no reason we should expect anything less in the West Midlands, and all of us must double down on our efforts to get there.”
Mayor Parker said: “I’ve met families who’ve lost loved ones to dangerous driving and witnessed the heartbreak it causes.
“That’s why road safety is a top priority for me and why I appointed Mat to help turn our plans into real change. The latest data shows the action plan we put in place last year is beginning to get results.
“So far this year 100 fewer people have lost their lives or been seriously injured, that’s 100 families spared the heartbreak that comes with road traffic collisions.
“But every life lost is one too many and we still have much work to do. We will continue to invest, innovate, and work together to make our streets safer for everyone.”
